Desert Monarchs
by Spiner909
Summary: In the heart of the Kharidian Desert, between the squabbling nations of men, there lies a tremendously powerful creature, a true emperor among kings...this short story tells the tale of a battle against a much stronger and fiercer Kalphite King and mixes in some worldbuilding for the desert nations of Al-Kharid and Menaphos. Inspired by elements of Monster Hunter. Art by u/Auenke


A/N: I quite like the Kalphite King. It's a fun fight, and I really like the music during the battle. One thing I feel is lackluster, however, is that the King's animations are not very good, and don't really seem to mesh well with the creature's design - the blue orb attack and green attack in particular. This story was born from daydreams about fighting a stronger, fiercer Kalphite King, with a large helping of worldbuilding mixed in. My story doesn't mesh perfectly well with existing RuneScape lore, but that is somewhat the point.

Anyway, I hope you like it.

* * *

A dozen warriors, mounted on camels, tread across the desolate desert. The sun gleams off of the tips of their lances, their curved scimitars, and their round shields. The camels are laden with packs of supplies - water, food, and camping equipment to sustain the men during their trek. The men have olive-brown skin, tanned and well adjusted to life in the desert. Every man covers himself in light, white clothing - suitable equipment to staving off the brutal heat of the desert. One man, wearing the same desert robes and head coverings as all the others, but still obviously a foreigner, judging from the different outline of the armor beneath his robes, as well as the light color of his skin, has his camel pace up and down the sides of the convoy. He holds out his hand, and a cool mist generates out of thin air. It's a costly use of water runes, but their convoy is well-supplied, and all the men give their heartfelt thanks to the mage. Even one of the camels grunts in appreciation, before it spits onto the sand.

At the rear of the convoy, the only woman in the group rides atop her camel a moderate gap away from the one in front of her. She has fair skin and short, black hair, and surveys the landscape around her. There is little but sand dunes in any direction, and the merciless sun above. Luna knows that she does not need to steer the camel directly, as it merely follows the line in front of its eyes. Satisfied with the pace of their expedition, and the safety of their immediate surroundings, Luna allows herself to fall deep into her own musings...

 _The politics of the desert-faring nations of Gielinor are an odd thing._

For all the deceit and manipulations of the many who selfishly seek to further their own ends at the expense of others, there is in equal measure a sense of honesty and fairness among the desert peoples, and a willingness to work together. Herself being no stranger to a tense environment, Luna found herself with a strengthened respect for the people of the desert. There was a great potential in this land, for better or worse.

Her mission - the reason she was here today, was itself a promising sign of cooperation between the two large nations of the desert, Al-Kharid and Menaphos. With Menaphos having just recently reopened itself to the world at large after a century of isolation, merchants on both sides were extremely eager to establish trade routes. While most would sail along the relatively safe and easy route along the coast, a land route was still desirable to some. Oddly, there were self-contradictory policies regarding foreign traders in Menaphos. Merchants coming in through the docks suffered high tariffs and required strict paperwork, while the rare trader coming in through the sands did not seem to be restricted to such a degree.

Division within the upper echelons of Menaphos, perhaps. Maybe the Pharaoh was having difficulty controlling his subjects? Either way, he was still willing to put political tension aside and work together with his neighboring nation on the other side of the desert. Half of the soldiers on the expedition were from Menaphos, a welcome bolstering of their forces. Their mission was a dangerous one, and each soldier would be rewarded handsomely for their service, not to mention the prestigious honor of the experience. And while Menaphos did not officially endorse mercenaries or freelancers, the Pharaoh had promised Luna and Vitus - the mage who was creating mists - a generous compensation regardless. Luna was not familiar with Menaphos or its Pharaoh, but she believed that he would keep his word.

Then again, this wasn't really about the money for her in the first place.

The most efficient and direct trade route would carve a line right through the center of the Kharidian desert. All things considered, it was actually quite a good route - the terrain was largely flat, there was an oasis around the halfway point to refill water supplies, and the area was largely devoid of natural threats like jackals, wolves, or ugthanki.

...but that safety came at a price. There were no common predators in the center of the desert because they had all been driven out by an aggressive and highly territorial species of insect - the kalphites. Akin to scarab beetles, but far larger and more dangerous, the creatures had six legs, a hard shell of either green or orange chitin, purple, compound eyes that bulged out from their heads, and a pair of powerful mandibles that protruded from the jaw.

Kalphites had a hierarchal system of living - worker drones, the smallest and most common kalphites, dug their underground hives and tunnels, tended to the larva, and scoured the surface for food. Workers were small, about the size of a Labrador, and were not dangerous. They were skittish things, generally running away at signs of danger unless desperately threatened.

Next came the soldiers. All kalphite soldiers defend the hive and workers and drive away threats, but there were several variants of them. The variants had varying size, speed, and approaches to combat. Standard soldiers were basically workers, but about twice as big, and did little more than charge and snap at the enemy.

Sentinel kalphites were unique among the species in that their chitin exteriors were scaled, rather than smooth. Sentinels had control over their scales, and could rattle them to produce distinct vibrations that other kalphites would listen to. That was how the sentinels earned their name - they rarely left their hives, serving as lookouts and defenders. Sentinels were smaller than standard soldiers, but could walk on vertical surfaces and even cling to the ceilings of their tunnels. This was especially dangerous when combined with the fact that sentinels could discharge scales from their body, using them as projectile weapons. It was inaccurate, but their scales were sharp, and launched with enough force to embed themselves in flesh and armor.

After the sentinels came the guardians, among the largest of the kalphites. Physically, they were almost identical to standard soldiers, save the fact that they stood nearly six feet high and weighed some four hundred pounds. Their charges held enough force to easily knock an adult man over, their mandibles strong enough to crush bone and rend flesh. And if that wasn't enough, a pair of glands near their mouths secreted a venomous substance over their mandibles, offering them the ability to poison enemies that they didn't kill outright. Thankfully, guardians were rare, and never left their hives. The sole responsibility of the guardians was to protect their King and Queen - at least two guardians accompanied each at all times.

The last of the soldier variants, and arguably the most dangerous, were the marauders. Marauders were smaller and more fragile than even standard soldiers, their black chitin exoskeleton relatively weak. The tradeoff, however, was that marauders were very nimble, and made excellent tunnelers. Marauders were capable of burrowing under the sand and lunging up at an enemy from below, making them ideal ambushers. Furthermore, marauders possessed a pair of enlarged antennae, each tipped in a bulb that faintly glowed blue - an indication of their natural affinity to magic. Marauders could 'spit' bolts of fire at their enemies. As it was magic cast without runes, it was rather weak, but few soldiers wore equipment resistant to magical attacks, wild animals even less so, and marauders attacked in swarms. When they were part of a group of composed of several other variants of kalphites, marauders became exceptionally dangerous. Marauders were, in a sense, the King's elite soldiers, often following him around, and they were the kalphites that most frequently left the hive to fight enemies.

Finally, there was the King and Queen of the hive. The queen was essentially just a female guardian kalphite that could lay eggs, with the intriguing ability of being able to shed her chitinous exoskeleton when threatened. Her form beneath her natural green armor had wings, and was capable of flight. Her true body was similar in design to an enormous, orange wasp, flying above any attackers and launching empowered versions of the marauder's fire attacks. It was imperative that the Queen be slain before the King, or else she could fly away and establish a new hive, rendering the point of their assault moot.

And then there was the King...

"-una? Hello?" A man in a white desert robe, carefully draped over his armor, was looking up at her from the ground and looking vaguely concerned. His robe was faded by the sun, and slightly flecked with sand.

Luna's eyes shot up, taking in her surroundings. She recognized this area - the sand was beginning to turn to sandstone. The kalphites must have set up their new hive near one of the granite quarries. Their convoy had stopped - they were close, then. They would have to dismount the camels and walk the rest of the way on foot.

 _But just how long was I daydreaming?_

Luna shook her head and dismounted her camel in a single, efficient motion. "Sorry, Vitus. I was pretty deep in thought."

"Hm, I'll say," Vitus said with a shrug, his concern placated. "Must have been something important, then. Not like you to get so lost in yourself."

"There's a lot to think about lately," Luna agreed with a nod. "But actually, I was just reviewing all the types of kalphites. Preparing myself."

Vitus frowned. "About that."

"What is it?"

Vitus cocked his head towards the majority of the convoy, further ahead of the two. The men were dismounting and gathering their weapons and supplies.

"The soldiers from Menaphos," Vitus started. "Should they really be here? I get that we've kind of come up with a routine for taking out hives, but they're an unknown. I'm not sure if we should rely on them."

"Then don't," Luna shrugged. "You and I both know we could clear a hive without them. But they're a sign of good faith from the Pharaoh. A demonstration of a desire to help maintain stability over the region. It would have been remiss of me to refuse their presence."

Vitus shrugged again. "If you say so. You always were pretty good at politics...balancing interests for the greater good, and all that."

Luna raised and eyebrow and smiled a little. "A proper stateswoman, am I?"

"Heh, I doubt it. You don't seem anywhere near corrupt or greedy enough."

"Glad to see that optimism of yours is still going strong."

Vitus turned his palms over and began to walk towards the remainder of the convoy, who were finishing up their preparations.

"I prefer to think of myself as a realist. But let's save the rest of the chat for our victory drinks, yeah?"

As Vitus walked away, he muttered something about wanting to try all the new drinks Menaphos had to offer. Luna smiled and shook her head, reaching around her back and shrugging off her desert robe, and then gently placing her backpack onto the sand. It was a surprisingly elegant thing - made of a soothing blue fabric, with stripes of gold.

Luna had no need for her camel to hold her equipment - her backpack was a magical construct. Sturdy spiritbloom cloth, magically conductive and interwoven with a teleportation spell. The cloth itself was resistant to sharp objects, temperature, and water. The interior of the backpack was obscured by a black void - items placed into the backpack did not reside in the container itself, but were sent to a pocket dimension, stored safely until Luna had need of them.

The storage wasn't infinite. She had calculated it precisely when she created the spell - it held enough cubic space for exactly one hundred times of the interior of the backpack. And for why she only had the one? Well, spiritbloom was an immensely difficult plant to cultivate, not to mention the fact that the supply outside of Daemonheim was still very small. The fibers died quickly when cut from the plant, unless fed with magical energy. It had taken _years_ for the Meilyr's farms to grow to a sufficiently sustainable size, and it had taken Luna a few tries to properly create the darned thing.

Still, despite the expenses and difficulties involved, spiritbloom was an incredible substance to work with. Luna hoped to experiment with it again in the future.

When it came to her equipment, Luna favored adaptability and mobility above all else. She may have lacked the raw power of big, heavy weapons, but she was capable of fighting with all three styles of combat, both up close and at a distance. She was already wearing her armor - a dark red, leathery material, with brown padding to offer additional protection, and white trim to add decorative style. It was made from a substance from the Far East called Laquer, making a lightweight and flexible armor, yet still acceptably sturdy. The assassins guild in the area, the Death Lotus, used it as their armor of choice. Luna had used their design as the base, but had made several modifications - extra armor reinforcements, room for a quiver, slots to embed runes in, and additional pockets for her more ammunition, potions, and more...specialized weapons. Although she wouldn't be needing any of them today.

Luna double checked her belt, ensuring that her melee weapons were holstered at her side. She had her chaotic longsword - another artifact from Daemonheim, although she didn't create this one herself. It was an exceptionally sharp and reliable blade, but did not have any other remarkable properties. Her Keris dagger, a gift from the Al-Kharidian spymaster, was there as well. A small weapon, jagged in a shape that loosely resembled a lightning bolt, the Keris was generally ineffective against any target but kalphites. Luna had done some research on the weapon, and confirmed her suspicions that it was, in fact, made of bane metal. How the Kharidians had come to possess a material that had only been found in the frozen north was unknown to her, let alone how someone had managed to tune it against kalphites.

Luna held her left wrist out parallel to the ground to check her next weapon, a peculiar device mounted onto her armor with a brace made of blue, almost ghostly material. It was a pistol crossbow, albeit a heavily modified and unique one. Luna had made the weapon herself, using Ascension material from the bodies of deceased Rorarii from the cult hidden near Oo'Glog. Law and air runes embedded in the brace allowed her to telekinetically manipulate the trigger, allowing her to fire bolts even if her hands were full. The mechanisms accurately fired the bolts with tremendous force, and if she fired bolts also made of Ascension material, the projectiles had enough power to embed themselves in solid rock. Furthermore, she had been inspired by the weapon of Karil, one of the Barrows Brothers, and her device loaded in bolt racks instead of single projectiles, allowing her up to ten shots before needing to swap racks.

In place of her left-hand gauntlet, Luna had a single black, fingerless glove that gave off a faint, magical hue. A spellcaster glove, from the Dominion Tower. They amplified the power of her spells, and reduced the energy drained from her runes. They were stubbornly enigmatic, however, and Luna had not been able to deduce the substance that they were made of. They wore out rather quickly, as well, and as Luna had no means of repairing them, her only way to replenish them was to go fight in the Dominion Tower again. Luna had tried to argue with the Tower's Face, arguing that it should know plenty well that she would return and fight again even if she knew how to make her own gloves, but the Face had been adamant. She had no idea how the Tower managed to generate the items without any clear source of materials.

And on a less physical level, Luna had armed herself with the magic and curses of the god Zaros. Theirs was a tense, if amicable relationship, both aware that Luna did not worship him as her chosen deity. Indeed, Luna, as the chosen Guardian of Guthix, did not worship _any_ god, and openly shared with Zaros that she sought to rid Gielinor of the influence of selfish and abusive gods. Yet Zaros willingly gave her his knowledge, allowing her to use his powers on her own. When Luna cast barrages of ice magic, or drained the lifeforce of her enemies to heal herself, Zaros was not required to enable that power, nor was he even aware that she was using it. It was a tremendously powerful gift, and Luna frequently considered his motivations for it.

Was it just a sign of good faith? A recognition of her potential, seeking to enhance her combat prowess to the highest possible degree? She sighed and resigned herself to the fact that she would probably never know the answer unless Zaros wanted her to.

Luna pulled a long spear out of the bag. The shaft was made not of wood, but of the same dull-grey metal that comprised her longsword. Chaotic metal was astonishingly lightweight, and she gripped her chaotic spear firmly with one hand as she examined the pointed end of the spear. The sunlight glinted off the tip, shining with lethal promise. Luna gave a satisfied smile and gently set the spear down on the ground as she fished out one of the last objects she needed from her bag. A sturdy flask of crystalline glass, containing an ominous black liquid.

Luna twisted off the flask's stopper and recoiled at the pungent odor.

"I really should try to find a way to make this taste better..." she groaned.

It was a nice thing to hope for, but the concoction was a very delicately balanced mix of magical and chemical ingredients. Trying to add yet another substance in to combat the taste and smell could upset the stability of the mixture. A product of her own innovations with herblore, overload potion was an incredibly foul-tasting substance that granted supreme combat awareness, enhanced physical strength, and greater magical conductivity within the body. However, it was very difficult and expensive to create, having several prerequisite ingredients, and was devastating to the body if consumed in too great a quantity. Luna managed her stockpile carefully, imbibing only when truly necessary, and taking great caution not to overdose. Despite the costs and risks, it was an incredibly useful potion.

Luna pressed the flask to her lips and took three, carefully calculated sips. She resisted the urge to cough and retch, her face wrenching up as she forced herself to swallow the disgusting liquid.

"I can't believe you really drink that stuff," Vitus commented, the mage having come back over to see why she was taking so long. His desert equipment now completely cast off, she could see his black, grey, and purple mage robes, although his face was concealed by a mask. He held a thick book in one hand, and a sturdy wand in the other.

 _I should really look into getting my own set of Virtus equipment..._

Luna glared at him and capped her flask again, putting it away in her backpack.

"You've had it once before, you know how useful it is," she defended. "Besides, I know for a fact you've tasted your share of foul beverages."

Vitus snorted, his face concealed behind his full-face helmet. "Foul beverages, she says. Yeah, that's true. But that there tastes like a mixture of lava, ogre piss, and spoiled milk."

Luna laughed and finished taking out the last of her things, carefully taking out a small vial containing a yellow liquid and attaching it to her belt. She also took out a small, innocuous pouch made of white cloth, and slipped it into one of her pockets. She then closed her backpack and slung it across her shoulders again.

"So you know what those things taste like, then?" Luna teased.

"I've had at least one of them. I'll leave it to your imagination to guess which."

Vitus rolled his shoulders and sighed. "Are you finally ready?"

Luna frowned at him. "Don't get cocky. Preparation is still critical, even if we _have_ cleared three hives before."

"Yeah, yeah. But you could prepare faster, you know."

Luna crouched down and picked up her spear, and then began to walk towards the hive's entrance.

"Eager as a kebbit, aren't you?" She sighed. "Let's go, then."

* * *

The opening to the kalphite hive was a large, rocky maw located at the base of one of the dunes, in the area just before sand began to give way to rock. The kalphite tunnels were surprisingly spacious, but were pitch black, devoid of any light source. However, the herbalists of Menaphos were talented, and had given the expedition an ample supply of a night vision potion, allowing the soldiers to see reasonably well in the dark. Vitus had made a point of commenting that it was actually rather tasty, with a pleasant minty flavor instead of the abomination that was Luna's personal concoction.

The Kharidian soldiers all wore turbans, and their armor was a sturdy steel platebody, with additional protection from some hard leather. Their weapons were less uniform - some had lances, others scimitars and shields, and one had chosen a longbow as his weapon of choice. A bit hard to use in the tunnels, but it could be helpful in dealing with any sentinels clinging to the walls.

Luna recognized a few of the Kharidians from previous assaults, and returned their nods and gestures of respect.

What the Menaphite soldiers lacked in experience, they made up for in equipment. Their armor was splendid - it seemed to be mithril, but had a brilliant gold hue instead of the usual dark purple. The platebodies curved elegantly around the soldier's arms and bore an intricate insignia of the Pharaoh's crest, and each man had a golden scarf draped over his left shoulder. Every Menaphite soldier held a long spear in one hand, and a round shield in the other, with a scimitar holstered at their side. Despite the foreboding environment, they seemed unconcerned and ready to fight.

 _They certainly make a strong impression. I imagine that's the point, but I'll hold my judgment until I see them in combat._

"This is bizarre," Vitus commented in a hushed tone, coming up to Luna's side. "The tunnels are deserted. We haven't even seen a single worker."

"It is," Luna agreed, flicking her personal Max Cape around with a faint _swish_. "Be on your guard. Maybe this hive is just that big - these tunnels are abandoned, maybe."

Vitus hummed and looked off to the side, not convinced.

"Something else is bothering me," he said. "The frequency of attacks. It usually takes, what, six or seven months for a hive to reform after the king and queen are killed? But this one took over a year. Thirteen and a half months, no?"

 _That's true. It has been an abnormally long gap..._

"This hive is quite far away from the last one," Luna pointed out. "Maybe it just took them a long time to find a new home."

"Maybe," Vitus muttered, his voice partially obscured by his helmet. "But I don't like this, Luna. This feels...bad. I think you should bring out your friend, just as a precaution."

Luna looked at him blankly for a second, blinking.

"Oh, you mean Percy. Sure thing."

Luna held up a fist and instructed the soldiers to stop. Each group of soldiers had its own commander, and Luna didn't technically have the right to give orders to either of them, but they knew who was in charge here. Luna was renowned across all of Gielinor for her incredible combat prowess, and had led three successful expeditions against kalphite hives in the past. Even the newcomer Menaphites seemed to instinctively recognize the value of her experience in the matter.

Luna pulled out the small cloth pouch from earlier out of her pocket. She gave the strings a tug, and opened the pouch. She shook the contents of the pouch - a silvery dust - into one of her palms, and then blew on the dust, scattering it into the air.

The dust dust took a long time falling, hovering in the air for some time.

Luna took a step back, and gently thumped one fist against her chest. Several of the Kharidian soldiers recognized the gesture, and began murmuring to each other in excitement at what was about to happen. The Menaphites kept a respectful distance, unsure what she was doing.

"Titan of steel, stalwart guardian and loyal friend, return to me once more!" She said loudly. "I call upon our contract. Answer my summons...Perseus!"

Immediately, the dust began to glow an ethereal blue, and became transparent, shortly fading out of existence. In its place, a large silhouette of a humanoid entity began to flicker, quickly becoming more and more visible. To Luna, the familiar process of summoning Perseus took only a few seconds, but to the Menaphites, it must have been much longer than that, judging from their stunned and speechless expressions.

"Ah..." the silhouette became physical, Perseus entering into the material world once more. Perseus was a steel titan, a creature that normally only existed on the spiritual plane. Summoning was a special type of magic that reached into the spiritual plane, temporarily bringing forth the various denizens there as allies to serve the summoner in the physical plane. The summoned creature could not exist on its own, however, and constantly drained power from their summoner to maintain their physical form.

And the steel titans were the mightiest allies willing to partner with a summoner. Towering hulks of metal that stood some nine feet tall and weighed a literal ton, their combat prowess was enormous. Able to shrug off attacks that an armored human soldier would flinch away from, steel titans made incredibly powerful allies. They were very particular about who they would partner with, however. For starters, only the most supremely skilled of summoners could even _think_ about attempting to summon one - the energy drain was enormous, enough to put an amateur into shock or even kill them if they were unprepared. Furthermore, the titans had a strong code of honor, and would generally only ally with a summoner who they considered worthy. Worthiness to them not only meant combat power, but a strong sense of morals or justice.

 _They're very chivalrous like that._

"Ah, my lady!" Perseus said, the metal giant bowing to one knee. "Truly, it is a joyous occasion to be reunited with you once again. I would weep tears of joy, if only I possessed eyes."

Steel titans were humanoid in shape, having two arms, two legs, a torso, and a rounded lump that mimicked a head, but had absolutely no other features. No face, no eyes, no genitals, nothing. Although, despite not having a mouth, Percy could somehow vocalize, and could still see and hear just as well as she could. Maybe even better.

"Hello again, Percy. Always glad to have you back at my side."

Two of the Kharidian soldiers began to whoop and cheer, shouting the steel titan's name.

" _Per-se-us! Per-se-us!_ "

The Menaphite soldiers relaxed. They were never frightened, but their confusion wore away with the knowledge that the behemoth standing before them was an ally, one that the Kharidians had apparently seen before.

"Ah, I see we are assaulting another kalphite hive!" Percy boomed with laughter. "An excellent choice, my lady. Their monarchs make for truly formidable opponents! And hello again, my other human comrades!"

Luna smiled and allowed Percy to bask in the praise of the soldiers, but then quickly turned serious again.

"Percy. Something is strange here. We've been exploring the tunnels for fifteen minutes, but haven't run into anything at all. Not even a worker. My working theories are that either this hive is completely abandoned, or that it is massive beyond any previous comparison."

"I see...indeed, that is unusual..." Percy held up a hand to his metallic, stubby chin and mimicked the gesture of rubbing it. The motions produce a quiet grinding sound.

"And recall that this hive has possibly been more than a year in the making, far longer than usual. Anyway, we'll split up to cover more ground. You and I, that is, not the soldiers. You go down one tunnel, and if you encounter something, either take it out, notify me, or recall to me. Your discretion."

"As you wish, my lady," Percy sighed. "It pains me greatly to immediately part your side, but I will comply with your orders."

"Oh, don't worry so much, you big lump of rust! We'll fight together soon." Luna held up a hand and waved her companion off, as he lumbered off into the distance down one of the branching tunnels. His footsteps were loud enough to hear even when she couldn't see him anymore. Hopefully, that would draw out the kalphites - none of them posed any sort of threat to him, except the king and queen. And if he _did_ run into a monarch, Luna could use their telepathic link to find him, and could guide the others through the tunnels to him.

"I feel a lot better with him around," Vitus sighed relievedly. "Although, you never did tell me exactly how you made your contract with him."

"I beat him in a boxing match," Luna deadpanned, her expression calm and neutral.

Vitus snorted and laughed. "Hah! Oh man, that's a good one, Luna! But really, how did you do it?"

Luna said nothing and donned a reserved, knowing smile.

Beneath his mask, Vitus's amusement turned to stunned confusion.

"You...no. No way. You were kidding, right? _How?!_ "

* * *

"Well, it's definitely not abandoned."

Some ten minutes later, Luna and her followers encountered a large, oval-shaped room. It was mostly featureless, save for one thing - a clutch of eggs nestled into some rough grooves in the sandstone wall.

"This definitely looks like a nursery," Luna mused. "They've all been about this size and shape before. And the grooves..." Luna leaned in closer to the wall to examine them. "Definitely the work of a queen. Very distinct pattern on her mandibles. But..."

"Why are there so few eggs?" Vitus finished. "And where's the queen? Kalphites _never_ leave a nursery unprotected."

Luna examined the eggs. "Eggs are still alive. This proves that kalphites _have_ been here recently. But I've no idea why these eggs are out here all alone."

Percy's voice crept into Luna's mind.

 _My lady, I have finally identified some kalphites. They are of the marauder variant, and they ignored me as they rushed down another tunnel. They seem to be headed in your general direction._

 _I don't like the sound of that,_ Luna replied, ordering Perseus to make his way back to her. He could recall, teleporting to her side in an instant if she needed him, but it took a lot of energy to do that, and she needed to conserve her power as much as possible.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Luna announced. "All of you, be on your guard."

...Luna felt it before she heard it. A faint tingling in the soles of her feet.

Vibrations.

The vibrations quickly grew louder, to the point where they made an audible rumbling.

 _Percy, recall now!_

"Everyone, get back now!" Luna barked. "They're co-"

Luna didn't have time to finish her sentence as a spray of sand and dirt spew forth from the ground, as an enormous mass launched itself upward. She held up an arm to protect her eyes, and gracefully spun backwards. She heard a man scream as a gigantic kalphite grabbed him in his mandibles and clamped down, tearing him cleanly in half.

Conveniently, that was exactly when her overload potion finally kicked in, the substance finally having been processed and distributed throughout her body. Time seemed to creep to a standstill.

This...this was no ordinary King!

The enormous insect standing before her was larger than previous kings, and had a different coloration. This new King was the size of a large boulder, and was colored a deep red, unlike the the orange of the ones before. Its mandibles were enormous and seemingly serrated, it had spiky protrusions on the back of its shell, its heavy forelegs were enlarged and armored to the point that they were as large as tower shields, and its purple, compounded eyes seeming to be staring directly at her.

And it was _furious_.

The creature adjusted its posture and reared back, lifting its head up and letting out a screech. It rapidly vibrated its short, vestigial wings in tandem, producing a nauseatingly high-pitched sound, as close to a roar as an insect could possibly make. The King's battle cry was echoed by other kalphites, similar screeches sounding out from locations throughout the tunnels connecting to the nursery.

About a dozen marauder kalphites burst out from under the floor, and immediately began to launch flaming projectiles at the human soldiers. The King itself shook its head, and charged towards the group.

"Wake up!" Luna shouted at the stunned soldiers. "Spread out, and take out the marauders!"

To their credit, the soldiers recovered quickly, and began to react to the ambush. But the King quickly singled out a single target for his charge, one soldier who was at the edge of the group. The man attempted to roll out of the way, but he was too slow to react. The King skewered him with one of his mandibles and continued to the charge, accelerating until he crashed into the wall of the nursery.

As the King stumbled about and shook off the man's corpse, Luna took the opportunity to shift her spear into her right hand and took aim at several marauders, firing a single ascension bolt from her wrist-crossbow at each of them. The projectiles easily pierced the creature's skulls, killing them instantly. At the same time, the surviving soldiers charged the other marauders, lashing out at them with lance and scimitar. Vitus retreated to Luna's side and began unleashing his water magic, sending out massive surges with enough torrential force to completely encompass a marauder and knock it off its feet.

The ground beneath them rumbled again, and more marauders poured out through the hole that the King had made. Two guardian kalphites burst through shortly after, making their own holes that quickly began to refill with sand. And if that wasn't enough, Luna heard skittering and screeching coming from the connecting tunnels, as five sentinel kalphites scurried in, three of them clinging to the ceiling.

"Percy!" Luna ordered, as the steel titan finally shimmered back into existence, "Distract the King while we take care of the soldiers!"

"As you command, my lady!" Percy roared his acknowledgment, and charged towards the King, who was now fully recovered and glaring at the approaching hulk of metal. The King let out another screech and charged at Percy, who met crouched down and braced for his charge. The King slammed into him with enough force to drive him back a few inches, and the two began to wrestle for control.

Luna winced in pain as she felt a slight pain on her left leg. Looking down, she saw a diminutive worker kalphite attempting to gnaw through her armor. She kicked it off in annoyance, and then crushed it with a swift stomp.

 _Even the workers are attacking? Something is extremely wrong here!_

One of the guardian kalphites took notice of her, and began to charge. A few marauders echoed its cry, and focused their fire bolts onto Luna. Her armor, however, had incredibly high resistance to magic, and combined with her natural durability, she felt literally nothing as the attacks splashed off her.

Luna nimbly side-stepped out of the way of the guardian's charge, rebounding and thrusting her chaotic spear into its side as it passed her. It screeched and shook itself wildly, but was not immediately killed. Luna pulled her spear back and held out her left palm, the one with the spellcaster's glove. She drew upon the magic without effort, and unleashed a powerful fireball upon the guardian, who had turned to start another charge. The flame hit the creature in the face, scorching it badly and blinding it. It screeched and collapsed to the ground, flailing, unable to support itself. Luna readied her spear with a twirl and charged forward, thrusting it right through the creature's head and finally putting it out of its misery.

She heard Percy's voice echo in her head again.

 _Agh...! My lady, this King is far stronger than the others before!_

Luna fired two more ascension bolts into a pair of marauders that hadn't let up their pointless assault on her, and then wheeled around to check on Percy's progress, reloading her spent bolt rack all the while.

...it didn't look good. He was losing ground, having been turned around and being slowly forced back until he was almost touching the nursery wall. Percy held the King back with one arm, while repeatedly slamming his heavy fist into the King's head with the other.

 _Understood,_ she replied. _Play defensive, do what you can._

Luna glanced back and forth, quickly surveying the environment. They were getting a handle on the soldiers, but another man had fallen, his body marked with scorch marks and burns. Vitus released a trio of powerful blasts onto one of the remaining guardians, his attack containing enough power to flip it backwards.

"Vitus!" She commanded. "You and the men handle any other soldiers, watch my back. I'm moving on the King! Join in if you can, but only from a distance! This one is different!"

"Yeah, got it! Be careful!"

Luna rushed over towards Percy and the King, holding her spear behind her back. A sentinel took notice of her and let out a chitter as it rattled its scales, launching one of them at her. She could tell that the projectile wouldn't come anywhere near her, so calmly stopped and silenced the offender with a shot from her crossbow, continuing her approach to the King. The sentinel fell from the ceiling and landed heavily on its back, its short legs wriggling and writhing in the air before falling still.

And then she heard a metallic grinding and a big _crunch_. The King had finally won his wrestling match, his mandibles having finally secured a place around Percy's waist as he began to crush him. Percy's metal body groaned and resisted stubbornly, but was starting to buckle under the pressure.

 _My lady...I have vastly underestimated this foe,_ Percy lamented. _I have failed you. Please, be safe!_

The King finished his vicegrip, cleanly bisecting the steel titan. It took a step back and screeched in triumph as the two halves of Percy shimmered an ethereal blue, the same kind as the dust that summoned him, and vanished.

Luna knew that Percy wasn't dead - it wasn't the first time he had fallen in battle alongside her. The King had only destroyed his physical form. It would require another summoning, but she could call him back. And while Luna could sustain Percy's need for energy for three days and three nights, the initial summoning itself required a pouch full of specific material, and she had used the only one she had.

Luna fired a few bolts at the King while it still had its back to her. Aiming for a soft spot in the armor, where the wings connected to the body, the King screeched in pain and staggered forward, before whirling around in a rage.

It was a duel between them, now.

Another fire bolt from a marauder splashed off her, and she paid it no mind, launching a pair of fireballs at the King. The King made no effort to dodge, and simply took the powerful magic head-on as it charged at Luna. It hurt it, certainly, but this King seemed to possess a degree of natural resistance to magic, and was not deterred by the damage.

Luna waited, allowing the King to close the gap. This was a clever adversary - it would slow its charge and adjust its course if she rolled too early. Her overload potion giving her excellent clarity, Luna carefully tracked the King's movements, and finally lunged out of the way at exactly the right time. She felt a _whoosh_ of air from the King's movement as it passed her, and heard him kick up sand and pebbles as he planted his feet and ground to a halt. The King pivoted around and picked up momentum, coming at her again with another charge.

Luna used her crossbow this time, placing several bolts between the creature's large, purple eyes. One bolt pierced between its jaw, drawing Luna's attention to how the new King's mouth looked like a permanent, vicious grin. The creature flinched and shook its head, but again, its charge was not deterred, and the King faced her head on. Luna waited even longer to evade this time, and went a different direction. She fired bolts into the King's side as he passed, and switched to blasts of magic when she used up the remaining ammunition in her bolt rack.

The King whirled about again, even angrier than before. A green ichor was leaking out from its wounds, dripping out and staining the sand. The King reared back and lifted its head, letting out another horribly loud screech and vibrating its wings. The awful frequency of the sound forced Luna to crouch down and clutch her head, covering hear ears.

And just as the soldiers finished off the last of the soldier kalphites, the King's battle cry was echoed throughout the hive, and another wave of marauders burst forward from the ground, shortly accompanied by some two-dozen standard soldiers.

"This is insane!" Vitus complained loudly.

Luna took advantaged of the King making himself an easy target, taking the opportunity to safely reload. She noticed, however, that the King's chitin had slightly changed color - his deep red shell was now less red, and was blended with an olive green.

Again, the King ignored her attacks, despite the damage. But this time, it did not charge her. It lowered its head, almost to the point where it was dragging it along the ground, and raised its back.

 _Ah, shit..._

The King screeched, and several of the spiky protrusions on its backside shot forward. A single one Luna could have easily dodged, as the King seemed to share the inaccuracy of the sentinels. Unfortunately, there were a half-dozen of them, and they were traveling quite a lot faster than sentinel scales. Luna dove to the side as quickly as she could, but one of the spikes hit her, embedding itself between her left shoulder and breast. Even through her armor and the pain resistance provided by overload, she felt the pain spike throughout her system, and grunted as she awkwardly tumbled along the ground. She rolled over once and lay flat on her back, pulling the blood-covered spike out in one clean motion and gasping in pain.

But there was no time to treat it, as the King was preparing to launch another volley. She leaned back, and vaulted herself upwards and back onto her feet, just in time to get a glimpse of another half-dozen spikes flying towards her.

 _Not this time!_

Luna called upon her magic - teleportation magic, this time - and instantly accelerated herself in a line slightly off from the King's line of fire, moving to his flank in the blink of an eye. She coughed and forced herself not to wheeze - telekinetically surging oneself was extremely harsh on the body - and spun around, thrusting her spear deep into the side of the very confused King. It screeched in pain and its entire body convulsed, and Luna pulled back and stabbed it twice more.

The King charged forward - away from Luna - and dove into the ground, quickly burrowing itself a new tunnel and hiding beneath the sand.

"It's running away?!" One of the Menaphite soldiers cried.

"No!" Luna corrected. "The Kings never run away! It's going to attack from below again, everyone spread out!"

Vitus and the remaining soldiers complied with her command, scattering about the nursery floor while continuing to fend off the remaining kalphites. Luna used her crossbow to finish off the remaining marauders, while the Menaphite soldiers had a fairly simple time of dealing with the standard soldier kalphites.

Luna calmly paced around in a circle as she waited for the telltale rumbling of the King's digging. It didn't take long - and she felt it right beneath her. The King had a grudge against her, now. That was good - it meant he would probably ignore the other soldiers.

Luna deftly leapt backwards as the rumbling intensified, and the King burst out of the sands. It wasted no time in searching for her, and immediately began charging at her again. Luna noticed that the king's coloration had returned to his original deep red.

She waited for the King to close the distance again, firing more blasts of fire at him. But this time, the King slowed his charge well before he even got to Luna, spreading his sharp mandibles wide. He wasn't going to try to trample her anymore, he was going to cut her in half!

 _Damn bug is clever!_

Luna tossed her spear to the side and performed a backwards roll, diagonally away from the King, as he closed the remaining distance and snapped at her. His jaws clamped together with a sickening crunch, impacting against each other. She tossed another surge of fire magic at the King as he adjusted his positioning, and made to charge her again.

Knowing that he would be much harder to avoid when he was trying to bite her, Luna decided to try a maneuver she had come up with when fighting previous Kings. She had never actually used it, but she needed to get away from those mandibles...

 _I'll have to try it._

She stepped back and repeatedly slammed her fist against her chest.

"Come on, you overgrown beetle!" She taunted, provoking the monster's wrath. "Come and get me!"

The King screeched at her. Satisfied that he would charge her again, Luna dashed to a new position, putting herself between the King and one of the nursery walls...

The King began his charge. There would be no attempt to roll out of the way of this one.

The King was accelerating quickly, he was nearly upon her!

 _...now!_

Luna turned around to face the wall, and ran at it. She jumped forward, reaching out with her legs, and kicked back against the wall, launching herself back towards the King. The King, thoroughly confused, tried to slow down, but had been going too fast, and slammed into the wall as Luna landed on top of him.

The King immediately started bucking and thrashing in an attempt to throw her off. Grabbing hold of his wings to maintain her position, Luna held on firmly and waited for him to tire himself out.

...but the King wasn't letting up. He let out his loudest screech yet, and given how close she was, it was enough to make her ears ring, temporarily deafening her. The King flailed and shook himself for some fifteen more seconds, but it felt like a lifetime to Luna, who was now seriously having to hold back her nausea and disorientation.

 _Just how much stamina does this thing have?!_

But finally, the King's movements slowed down, and he crumpled forward slightly, heaving up and down. Luna took his exhaustion as an opportunity to unsheathe her Keris dagger, and adjusted herself on his back. She raised the dagger high, and plunged it deep into the back of the King's head, in the weaker joints of his shell armor where the body met the head.

The King shrieked and swung itself back and forth again to throw her off, but Luna's grip was too strong, and the King too exhausted from his thrashing. Luna raised her dagger again and stabbed him, over and over, until the King let out a mewling cry and collapsed onto his side, exposing his vulnerable underbelly, which lacked armor.

"Now!" Luna shouted to the soldiers, vaulting off the King and sheathing her dagger. "Strike his underbelly!"

The Menaphite soldiers had finally finished off their kalphite adversaries, and echoed a war cry as they charged at the King, jabbing at him repeatedly with their lances. The surviving Kharidian soldiers focused on keeping the remaining marauders occupied, being instructed by Vitus.

Luna, dizzy and disoriented after being so throughly shaken about, had to take a moment to get her bearings. She reached for her toolbelt and took the small vial full of yellow liquid - Saradomin's brew, a healing potion - in her hand and quaffed the contents, tossing the spent vial aside. She took a single step towards the King, but then remembered that she had cast her spear aside. She dashed towards its location in the sand, planting one foot in the sand and pivoting around as she bent down to pick it up.

 _One good strike to the back of the head should finish this...!_

Luna started making her way back to the King, but stopped immediately, for she could see something that the Menaphite soldiers could not - the King had changed colors again! Not only was his shell now tinged with a deep blue, his wings were glowing, crackling with some kind of arcane energy.

"Get back!" She shouted. "He's doing something!"

The soldiers complied immediately, a testament to their skill and training. The King, having somehow recovered his energy, flipped himself upright again. He arched his back, raised his head, and spread his wings wide as the soldiers desperately tried to create distance between them.

And then the area around the King pulsed fiercely, crackling with potent blue magic. As far as Luna could tell, it didn't seem elemental - it was blue, slightly tinged with orange, and looked like electricity. Acted like electricity, too, given how two of the soldiers were unable to escape the radius and seized up as the magic shook their bodies.

The magic detonated.

The blue streaks of lightning exploded, mutilating the two men and knocking their bodies a good distance away. Luna, despite being a good distance away and having extremely good magical resistance, felt the power of the magic ripple through her and knock her off balance.

"What manner of devil possesses this creature?!" one of the Menaphite soldiers cried, his voice suffused with hopelessness. "It refuses to die!"

It was true. Previous Kings would have died by this point. The King was heaving back and forth, bleeding ichor from dozens of holes created by Luna's crossbow bolts, blasted by a dozen fireballs, and was stabbed repeatedly in its weakest points, but it was still standing! More than that, it had turned green again - it was going to shoot more spikes!

 _This is absurd! Just die already!_

The King hesitated a bit, limping as it turned itself around to give its spikes a proper angle of attack.

 _Signs of weakness, finally! It's getting sluggish._

Luna tightened her grip on her spear and prepared herself, making no effort to move. She knew what she had to do. It was risky, but there was a strong chance she could finally end this fight with one solid blow.

"Going to need to measure this perfectly," Luna mumbled to herself.

Finally, as the King began to arch his back and lower his head, Luna charged forward, spear held with both hands.

The King began to rattle, the spikes in his back quivering with excitement. His head was bent all the way down to the ground, his mandibles brushing up against the sand.

 _There! Now!_

Luna telekinetically surged herself forward once again, and with a mighty shout, thrust her spear into the base of the King's skull with all of her might. Her aim was true - the spear slipped right between his armor, puncturing all the way through to his vulnerable parts. The King screeched once, convulsed, and collapsed onto the ground, too weak to support itself any longer.

Luna panted heavily as she observed it, pulling out her spear and leaning on it for support.

...the enormous kalphite did not move.

"The King is dead," Luna said, breathed. "Finally..."

The few remaining kalphites in the chamber began to flee, instinctively recognizing its final screech as its death throes. They would not be aggressive any longer - they would burrow deeper into their tunnels and avoid contact.

Vitus stumbled over to her side, clutching a wound - a sentinel's scale had managed to puncture his armor.

"Hellfire," he muttered. "What in the name of Zamorak _was_ that? That was no ordinary King!"

"I've no idea," Luna admitted, standing up as the healing brew began to take effect. "It was so much stronger than the ones before it."

Then, she remembered, and Luna swore loudly. "We never took out the Queen! She's going to escape!"

Luna readied her spear with a twirl, and started to move, but Vitus stopped her by firmly planting a hand on her shoulder.

"We can't go after her," he said neutrally.

"But the entire expedition is pointless if we don't take out both monarchs!" Luna protested.

"Look at the state we're in!" Vitus said firmly, emotion breaking through his voice. "Five men are dead, two are hurt so badly that they can't even stand. You and I could _probably_ take out the Queen on our own, definitely if we had Perseus, but we don't even know where she is! Besides, she might be crazy strong, too, more dangerous than any of the other Queens!"

Luna gritted her teeth and glared at him, fingers turning white as her grip on the spear tightened.

"We have to retreat," he finished, calming down. "None of us are as strong as you."

"Damn it all," Luna sighed, finally relenting. "Fine. I've got some extra brew in my backpack, I'll tend to the wounded. Watch for any more kalphites."

"Alright."

* * *

With the wounded bandaged and healed to the best of Luna's ability, the survivors of the expedition made their way back to the camels and supplies that they had left. The entire affair had barely taken an hour, but it felt like they had spent a lifetime down in those dark tunnels.

 _I suppose that's correct, for those who didn't survive the encounter..._

In truth, the expedition was not a total failure. Yes, the Queen had escaped, and would establish a new hive. But it would still take time for the kalphites to breed a new King - certainly one as terrifying powerful as the one that they had slain today. And they had survived to tell the tale, of course. There would be no grim tale of an expeditionary force being completely wiped out, overwhelmed by the unexpected power of the Kalphite Emperor. A fairly apt naming upgrade, Luna thought, christening the new foe with a proper title.

Before leaving, Luna had carved off several of the King's body parts. Gruesome work, but she had good reasons - the King's serrated mandibles could make outstanding scimitars, if given a handle and a few necessary modifications. She took several of his armored scales, interested in experimenting with their durability, and to see if they had any weaknesses. And finally, after a suggestion from Vitus, she took a few of his back-spikes, as they were long and sturdy enough to possibly form weapons out of, as well. Luna had deemed them too large to be useful for bolts or arrows, but they were just the right shape and size to serve as the tip of a spear, or perhaps a rapier...

"So, any idea what that magical attack was?" Vitus asked from atop his camel, riding beside Luna at the head of the convoy.

"Afraid not," Luna admitted wearily. "I've seen similar attacks from certain Saradominists. Non-elemental lighting attacks. But...nothing exactly like what the Emperor did. And we've _never_ seen kalphites uses magic on a scale like that, which I find extremely concerning."

"I have a theory," Vitus started.

"I think I know what it is," Luna sighed tiredly. "But go ahead."

"The kalphites are evolving," Vitus explained. "Adapting to our presence, in response to us wiping out their hives. It's not just that they're getting stronger - that entire situation was proof of them adapting. It was a trap - they used their own nursery as a way to ambush us."

"Agreed. The Emperor was incredibly strong - that can't be a coincidence. This hive took longer to spring up, right? That extra time was probably spent developing his changes. On top of that, it might even be affecting the other kalphites. Back during the fight, I had to kill a worker that was trying to gnaw off my leg."

"And I can only see two solutions to this," Luna grimaced. "If Al-Kharid and Menaphos really want this route across the central desert, they're going to have to fight for it. It would take a proper army - to root out the kalphites for good. You'd have to exterminate the entire hive, not just the monarchs."

"And the other option?" Vitus asked.

"Give up," Luna said plainly. "I don't know if either of them are going to want to contribute the time or resources to that endeavor. They could try going along the eastern side of the desert, but that's quite the detour."

"Yeah," Vitus sighed. "Or maybe just get Menaphos to actually open up their ports, or whatever is going on with that."

"Hard to say. I could see the Pharaohs taking this any number of ways."

The pair were silent for a minute, simply watching their sandy dunes around them as their camels steadily tread through the desert.

"Two questions," Vitus said after a while.

"Go for it."

"First, why haven't you teleported back?"

"There's no teleport spell to Menaphos, yet."

"True, but I know for a fact that you have some secret means of teleporting to Sophanem."

Luna raised an eyebrow at him. And just how did he know about her magical scepter that could teleport her to many of the ancient pyramids across the desert?

Vitus shrugged. "You can move around way too quickly for there not to be a way. Not sure what it is, won't pry either, but don't try to tell me there isn't."

"There's a way," Luna admitted. "All I'll say is, maybe next time you're in Sophanem, have a good look around the central pyramid."

"Huh. Noted. Anyway, you still haven't answered the question."

"Fine," Luna sighed, rolling her shoulders to relieve some soreness. Her wound from the King's spike was still healing. "The job isn't over. I wouldn't get paid if I showed up alone, days before everyone else. Besides, I've come this far with all of these soldiers. It would ruin my impression if I just left now. Besides, I could use the peace and quiet. It's a chance to just...think."

Vitus looked at her suspiciously.

"I believe you," he started. "But I also believe that's not the whole truth, which leads into my second question. Why are you even doing this in the first place? I know it isn't for the money; you're not exactly poor."

Luna did not immediately answer, and cast her eyes towards the horizon. Vitus waited patiently, allowing her time to come up with the proper words.

"The experience," Luna finally admitted. "Guthix entrusted me with a task. If I'm going to carry it out...I need to be as strong as I possibly can. I need to be skilled at fighting things bigger and stronger than I am."

"I wouldn't say you're lacking in that regard," Vitus frowned. "All things considered, you didn't really seem to have too much difficulty with the Emperor."

"It isn't enough," Luna said quietly, almost whispering.

Vitus couldn't think of anything to say to counter that.

"I guess I'll take your word for it, since I don't know what you're really up against. Just..."

Luna looked at him hesitantly.

"Don't end up like the Raptor, alright?" Vitus pleaded. "I don't want to see you fall into some obsessive cycle of obtaining power."

"I'll try my hardest," Luna promised with a faint smile. "But I'll need people like you to remind me of that."

"Heh. Sure, you can count on me to nag you every now and then. What else are friends for?"

"Slaying giant bug monsters?" Luna suggested.

And despite the heat, the exhaustion, and the sorrow they felt from the loss of their allies, the pair laughed.

* * *

A/N: The idea for the Kalphite Emperor's lightning attack came from my ideas about how weird his animations are. Consider the blue mage attack. The king somehow launches these blue-orange balls that stun you - somehow - and then they levitate and float upwards before exploding and doing a ton of damage. Like, what? The animation of the attack and the actual effects don't really have any relevance to each other, so I tried to make some. It was the stun that was the defining link - you get stunned before you even take damage. So what if the blue magic was electricity? You can't move when you get seriously electrocuted, your muscles convulse and freeze up. And then the magic detonates, doing serious damage if you couldn't avoid it.

What did you think of this story? I'm always eager to read feedback and constructive criticism. Also, if you did like this story, check out my author profile, as I've written a few other shorts for RuneScape that you may find interesting.


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